Watching this video brings back painful memories of Liz. Did she drink and drive? My gut says yes, but she would never admit to it.

Thank God she never killed anyone … but she did have an accident where she was driving and she rolled our car with two of her friends inside. Everyone walked away with bumps and bruises … but it could have been totally different.

In my eyes Liz contributed to her own death.

I will never forget receiving her death certificate some six weeks after 9/20/03. I opened it and read that she had died of smoke inhalation … that was no surprise … but a large, contributing factor to her death was alcohol consumption … sadly, that didn’t surprise me either.

Liz loved to party … she smoked – she drank – she loved to “have fun.” As her mother, it drove me wild with fear and anxiety and no one, and I mean no one, could tell me how to get her to stop.

Minutes before the fire broke out she had been sitting down on the porch talking, drinking and smoking. Mistakes … that had deadly consequences.

Can she be an example of what NOT to do? Yes. Was that her purpose for this life? Yes, I believe so, in part.

Do I forgive her? Yes, always. Does it change the way I feel about her? No, never. Am I still proud of her? Yes, always.

Please pass this video on … it was meant to be shared. Together we CAN make a difference … one person at a time.

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3 Responses to “We All Make Mistakes … and Some Are Deadly”

Oh Kim you are so precious. To admit your daughter’s faults is not easy when they are alive and even harder after they have passed. We all seem to make saints out of our dead family. You are so strong. God Bless. Yes, if Liz’s death can save one person it would be a blessing. Love you Dawn

Oh man, that video kills me. We have one child out of five still living with us at home. He’s 18 and we had some trouble with him for a while, but he’s working now and has changed his lifestyle and attitude. This video, and the story about your daughter broke my heart. My heart goes out to you. My brother just lost his son to AIDS last month. We bring them into this world but they end up living their own lives and finding their own path.

Elizabeth – thanks so much for your comments. So sorry about your nephew. Glad to hear your son has seen the light and has changed . Dealing with Liz’s poor decisions during the last years of her life was much more difficult to deal with than dealing with her death. People sometimes find that hard to believe but it is the absolute truth. Not getting her to see how self-destructive her behavior was, was one of the most helpless, sad feelings I have ever known.